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Rise of the Paper Toys Machine

August, 18th 2017

As a designer, we often think and prototype via paper. A volume, a layout, a mechanism, ... We take a sheet of paper, draw on it, cut it, fold it, tear it apart, start again ... This simple and fast process makes it possible to test an idea quickly.

Similarly, if you are an electronics enthusiast, you may have tried to make your own conductive ink, such as the one found in Circuit Scribe pens. This ink brings paper prototyping to a new level of experimentation and fun.

And it is this feeling that wanted to transcribe Marion Pinaffo and Raphael Pluvinage through their project Papier Machine. It is a booklet composed of 13 electronic paper toys to cut and assemble yourself. Using conductive and thermosensitive inks printed on paper and some components, this project offers a poetic journey into the field of electronic experiments, functional prototypes that are manipulated to learn and have fun.

Papier Machine takes on something exciting for any fan of paper toy and electronic prototyping. The kit opens the way for publishing projects of a different scale that will perhaps bring a little more analog to a universe in full digitalization.

Among these paper toys, a Wind sensor in the form of a small ghost that whistles when blowing on the fringes of its sheet. Or a Color Sensor, which animates small flies of paper when illuminated by a colored light.

By demystifying the electronics of our daily life through simple and refined forms, the kit propels his user into his own interpretations both visual and functional. While awaiting a hypothetical commercial distribution of the project, all Papier Machine experiments can be viewed here.